Author

DU Beat

Browsing

Are the DUSU polls a medium to national elections?

While the elections of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) are often compared on a larger canvas with the national elections in India, it is important to note the gradual yet consistent path that has been carved out by several national political parties to seek control through their respective established on-campus student wings.

On a similar note, it has come to my knowledge (as covered by two leading newspapers) that different groups like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress Party, among the others, have hired new executive officers for the first time, solely for the purpose of the elections in the University. The poll advisers are not students but professionals, vested with the responsibility of guiding the members of their student wings- the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti and the National Students’ Union of India, respectively. The new recruits are indulged in the planning and handling of funds as well as the execution of campaigns, lending them a professional touch.

Since it is a championed belief that the DUSU elections form the first step into the abyss of politics for any aspiring student, the parties would want to leave no stones unturned when it comes to compromising with their probable victory. This is quite evident through the various modus operandi resorted to throughout the period of campaigning.

Further, with the declaration of the manifesto of the National Students’ Union of India a couple of days ago, all eyes are eagerly awaiting for others’ manifestoes to come out as well, so as to commence with their own screening process and boil it all down to one choice on the big day!

 

Image Credit: IBN Live

Shrija Ganguly

[email protected]     

 

By the next academic year, aspirants may get admission in Delhi University even if they score a 60%. Here’s how.

 

Starting next academic year, the University of Delhi is all set to introduce management quota in lieu of conducting special admissions drive for seats left vacant under the reserved category. This change comes as a much needed respite for both students and officials involved in the admissions procedure. A special admissions officer under the condition of anonymity, said, “The admissions committee believes that the recently concluded special admissions drive for reserved category students was a futile effort. It’s better to give out seats than leave them unoccupied.”

 

This move also comes as a blessing in disguise for the 28 DU colleges whose funding was recently discontinued by the Delhi Government. Adding to the widely discussed issue, the Executive Council announced that the University is slowly inching towards self-financing. The council has not yet resolved to remove the clause of funding by University Grants Commission (UGC) from the Delhi University Act, but has amended existing ordinances in favour of management seats.

 

With the introduction of management quota, funding for DU colleges will no longer remain an issue. According to research analysts, the cost of a single seat at a prestigious college’s coveted course can cost around 10 lakhs, or even more, depending on the demand. The academic council has not fixed any criteria for application, and hence it will entirely be on the basis of money and not merit. Over 5000 seats go empty every year after the 6th and 7th lists, and if you do simple math, the money received from this would be immense.

 

Unfortunately, a full-fledged quota with a fixed percentage like those observed in private colleges will not be implemented any soon. Only the sparse vacant seats that had originally been allotted to reserved category candidates will be given out. This is because introduction of seats given out under the discretion of the management implies privatisation, which would ‘tarnish’ Delhi University’s image as a premier institution for higher studies. Moreover, such a move would invite legal trouble for the university.

 

While most DU aspirants are welcoming the decision, the existing students are full of apprehensions. Most 2nd and 3rd year students are under the impression that implementation of a management quota would also result in greater autonomy for colleges, which may lead to a subsequent fee hike across all courses. One of the 3rd year students said, “I wish to see a revamped version of the shabby infrastructure of my college. I really hope the rumours about higher fees are false, though. ”

 

The solution posed to fill vacant reserved seats is definitely interesting, but chances are that it would lead to extreme complications. An incline towards a self-financing model means lack of transparency and a slow, consequent privatisation of the institution. The legacy of Delhi University as a premier government funded body might die soon, if the matter goes out of hand. We can, nevertheless, expect better infrastructure and facilities, and fewer pamphlets of touts claiming to give aspirants a seat in the course and college of their choice.

 

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

DU has finally sent in a list of the governing bodies of its colleges. Here’s a quick run-down of events that lead up to Delhi government’s massive decision to freeze funds for the 28 colleges it funded. 

 

In what can be called a last minute miraculous save, the University of Delhi has finally sent a list of names for governing bodies of the 28 Delhi University colleges to the Delhi government. This is in response to the Delhi government’s repeated reminders and an ultimate threat to withdraw support for the 28 colleges it funds. On 31st July, Manish Sisodia announced a landmark decision to freeze funds since the respective colleges had failed to form governing bodies in time.

Devesh Sinha, the Dean of Colleges confirmed that DU had sent the list of the reviewed panel, and said, “A few changes were made to the list and it was sent to the Directorate of Education”. He also mentioned that the Executive Council has tried to maintain a diversity of occupations and included at least 2 female candidates. When he was questioned by Indian Express about the delay in the formation of the governing bodies 2 weeks back, he had said, “Since our Vice Chancellor and other top officials are involved in the Law Faculty interviews, there has been some delay in the process.”

The Directorate of Education is yet to verify if it received any list concerning this.

In what has been a to-and-fro of documents since long, the saga has been ongoing since October last year. The term for the last governing bodies ended in October 2016. According to a picture tweeted by Sisodia detailing the sequence of events, repeated reminders were sent to Delhi University by the Director of Higher Education, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi(GNCTD).

In February this year, a panel of names was sent to GNCTD. The government then sent its recommended panel to Delhi University for approval. Since then, the list has been hanging, either due to a change required in the format or the list not being approved by the Executive Council of DU. Finally, the list was passed albeit after tweaking minor changes, to include recommendations from diverse backgrounds and evenly divide. The governing body of a college comprises of five members from the university panel, five members from the government, two university representatives, two representatives of the college faculty and the college principal. An ideal governing body consists of a wide range of members to ensure a healthy mix of lawyers, educationists, journalists etc.

Delhi government’s decision to hold on to funds had sparked a huge furor among both, students and teachers. Members of ABVP challenged the move and burnt an effigy of Sisidoa on 31st July near the Faculty of Arts, North Campus. The National Democratic Teachers’ Federation, too, protested against the government’s decisions citing financial reasons. According to sources, 360 crore is annually allotted to those 28 colleges. With the list finally sent, it remains a dubious question if the decision to freeze funds would be pulled back.

 

Image credits- Financial Express

 

Vijeata Balani

[email protected]

Described as “95 percent fact and 95 percent fiction”, Jerry Pinto’s novel Em and the Big Hoom deals with the trauma of bipolar disorder with honesty and humour.

We should never judge (and pick) a book by its cover, but Em and the Big Hoom is so beautifully designed that you can’t help but notice (and eventually buy it).  Its deep-set purple colour, glossy red flyleaf, and coloured text block are eye catching. That’s how it tempts you first and then you pick it up, only to discover that it is as interesting as its cover promised.

The novel's glossy red flyleaf and purple block text are eye-catching
The novel’s glossy red flyleaf and purple block text are eye-catching

Em and the Big Hoom is a Sahitya Akademi award-winning novel written by journalist and writer, Jerry Pinto.  It is the story of a boy growing up in a one-bedroom-hall-kitchen flat in Mahim, Mumbai, with his mentally unsound mother, Imelda (Em); father, Augustine (Big Hoom); and his elder sister, Susan. The story starts after Imelda suddenly falls into a deep-rooted bipolar disorder which ends with her death.

Imelda is an uncouth, tea sipping and beedi smoking lady (who doesn’t consider discussing sex with her children a taboo), but despite her crassness, you will end up liking her. However, it’s the stoic father who wins hearts. He is the one who holds things together; he pays the bills, cooks, and washes the metallic smelling blood off the floor each time Em is rushed to the hospital after her failed suicide attempt. While The Big Hoom is the comfort, Em is an adventure. The story is narrated by unnamed son who is endearing, vulnerable, and loves his mother with “a helpless corroded love”.  The characters feel so humane and real that it seems unfair to label Em and the Big Hoom as fiction instead of a memoir.

A major part of the story has references made to the letters and journal entries, from which Imelda and Augustine’s history is unearthed. Unlike Augustine, who seems like one of the “solid–as-a-rock men of the world who rarely give the impression that they have any past or a private life”, his letters offer insight into his romantic feelings for Imelda. Sample this letter he wrote from Paris: “You would like Paris, I think. There is a casual beauty about it, rather like yours.”

The 235 page long book is littered with ample of feminist-y snippets: like, the moment when Imelda asserts control over her salary, her reaction when she discovers a vacuum cleaner (“I cried when I saw my first vacuum cleaner, I felt it was kindness to women everywhere”), and when Augustine assures her before marriage that “Your body is yours to give or not”.

The most interesting aspect of the novel is that even though there are many books written about Mumbai, it is Jerry Pinto who paints Mumbai from the rare perspective of Goan Catholics against a rare backdrop of Mahim and city’s psychiatric wards.

You should read this masterpiece if you are looking for a story of vulnerability, tragedy and strength.

 

Feature Picture Credits: Amil Sayed

Niharika Dabral

[email protected]

 

Which smell reminds you of home?

It was the simplest of questions, posed by one of the members of The Third Space Collective. He tried to ease us all into the informal ‘Adda’ that transpired on a humid afternoon at Green Park, under the faint turpentine and peach coloured shades of the gazebo.
Answers varied from mutton curry cooked in mustard oil, to drift woods; from the wet smell of laundry to the fresh smell of soil embraced by the first rains.
On a lazy Friday afternoon, The Third Space Collective, a collective of theatre practitioners held, what they insist on calling, an ‘Adda’ to involve people in their craft of storytelling, as their latest production ‘Dastaan-E-Bhook’, an adaptation of Sam Shepard’s ‘Curse of the Starving Class’ approaches the calenders.

img_3087

One might wonder, why the name, Third Space? In a conversation with the Director of the play, Dhwani Vij, a graduate of Kirori Mal College (KMC) and the Founder member of the Collective, passionately explained it to us. In any form of art and performance, a multitude of spaces is created. The first and foremost space is of the performers and the artists who weave the elaborate fabric of stories with their bodies, ideas, and training. The second space is created by what the artist encounters in this creative affair, from the co-actor to the stage, from the audience to the blank sheet of paper on their desks.
Then comes the third space, the conjunction of the first and the second, the most sacred place where creation takes place.

 

fullsizerender

Already performed at the prestigious Prithvi Theatre at Thespo 2015, a youth theatre movement that began in the year 1999, and which has impacted the Bombay theatre scene considerably, ‘Dastaan-E-Bhook’ is a play tracing the journey of a family struggling to cope with each other. Packed with ideas of belonging, ownership, and home, the play is a dark absurdist comedy, about an all-consuming hunger, fed by the ripples of urbanisation. Questions of home and its definitions, an exploration of gray areas, percolates within the theme of the play.

 

img_3173

The Third Space Collective’s charm lies in its simple endeavour to create an evening of discussion and conversation on a story that they wish to paint on stage. Most of its members, now graduates, hail from different colleges from the University of Delhi and their respective theatre societies. The ‘Adda’ was coloured by heart-rending poetry pieces on themes of home, musical performances, and to lure us more into the afternoon, multiple cups of ‘adrak wali chai’. Artists from different cities, backgrounds, theatre circuits participated in the afternoon of conversational hues of what home is and means to each of us, which soon segued into a cathartic evening.

fullsizerender-2fullsizerender-4

      The motive of this informal ‘adda’ was to familiarise the audience with the craft, the characters, the story. A play is not just the director’s    child or the actor’s craft. It needs the voice of its audience, and that was the goal of the event, to tie up strands of truth and interpretations.

fullsizerender-5

‘Dastaan-E-Bhook’ hits the theatres from September 1st to September 3rd, starting at 8.pm at The Instituto Cervantes Nueva Delhi, at Connaught Place.

Photo Credits: Vansh Sabharwal
[email protected]

 

– Ankita Dhar Karmakar
[email protected]

JMC’s Department of Mathematics conducts a three-day long workshop on Game Theory.

From 10th to 12th August 2017, the Mathematics department of Jesus and Mary College (JMC), University of Delhi (DU), hosted a Science Academies Lecture workshop for undergraduates in Mathematics. The workshop was conducted in collaboration with three science academies, namely, the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy and The National Academy of Sciences. These academies jointly conduct such programmes as a part of their year-long activities. This time, the topic for the three-day long workshop was ‘Game theory and Graph theory’.

In the period of three days, the workshop saw great participation from students all across DU. The workshop was inaugurated by the college principal and faculty members of the Maths and Economics departments, all lighting the lamp of knowledge.

Soon, Professor Arunava Sen from the Indian Statistical Institute was invited to the dais to deliver a lecture on ‘Introduction to game theory and design mechanism’. He spoke at length and used relevant, famous case studies of the prisoner’s dilemma and the Nash equilibrium to aid learning. The following days saw an equally interesting line-up of lectures delivered by the likes of Professor R. Bapat from the Indian Institute of Statistics, and S. Sivaramakrishnan, a professor at IIT Bombay, on subjects like linear algebra and graph theory, among others. The workshop also saw real-life problems related to college admissions solved, and other cases like the issue of bankruptcy being discussed.

Christina Vasanth, a part of the student organising team for the workshop, said, “People from a lot of colleges came just to attend this workshop. I found it extremely beneficial as during routine days, we don’t get to learn from the best professors in India. Even the teachers sat down and took notes of what the professors were saying. I wish a lot more workshops of this kind are conducted.” The workshop concluded after a feedback form was filled by the students, and a vote of thanks delivered to all the professors who took out time to deliver those lectures.

 

Image credits: Department of Mathematics, JMC

Vijeata Balani

[email protected]

With the election season gearing up, student organisations in the University of Delhi are outlining their campaign blueprints for the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) Elections 2017-18. With the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) having swept the DUSU polls for three consecutive years, the Indian National Congress party has decided to intervene in the micromanagement of its students’ wing National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) action plans so as to convert this year into a victory.

Last year, NSUI made a comeback by Mohit Garid  winning the joint secretary’s seat but lost the other three seats of President, Vice- President and Secretary to Amit Tanwar, Priyanka and Ankit Singh Sangwan respectively who owe their candidature to the BJP-RSS wing , ABVP. After the game changing elections of Rajya Sabha three days ago to secure a hard-won seat for Ahmed Patel, Congress party  has sent teams of leaders to interact with students of North, South and off campus colleges of Delhi University(DU) so as to ascertain the problems and issues of the student community.  So far, the party had left the DUSU elections to be managed by NSUI’s student leaders only but as a part of its mega offensive strategy  of ‘take back du’ , it has delegated senior leaders like Ajay Maken, Mukul  Wasnik and Oscar Fernandes to handle the elections.

The campaign is going to be high on social media and with a Senior Congress leader remarking that ‘For us, every victory counts’ and hiring of a professional agency to  exercise the creatives, Congress and NSUI have pulled up their socks for 2017. And it is yet to be seen with the opportunist tendencies being so largely visible in BJP-RSS, when will the three times winner ABVP trains its guns.

 

By

OORJA TAPAN

[email protected]

image credits- Getty images

Before the eminent Hindu College reopened its women’s hostel to the incoming students, with the reduction in the fees and the elimination of incongruous rules that required the abiders to not stray out of their rooms after 11pm, wear  “decent” attire and go on only one permissible night out in a month, along with the extension of the 8:30pm curfew, the college faced a number of controversies regarding the discriminatory fee issue. This concern was tackled by ‘Pinjra Tod’, a feminist student collective that works towards the elimination of curfews and a better lifestyle for women in the educational sphere and various other state bodies. In the face of this opposition, the fees went down by 30,000, but the women still pay double of what is paid by the men; where the men pay 50,000 and the women 90,000 and the curfew though extended still remains.

 

A similar case was observed in St. Stephen’s College last year where the authorities locked up the men in their blocks too as a justification for locking the women up in their blocks by 10:00 pm. Paying Guests function on a similar note where women residents are usually over charged and expected to stick to a fixed curfew, accompanied by the daily quota of moral policing. This makes it an imperative motion for us to acknowledge this menacing concern regarding the discriminatory curfew where the girls in most hostels are expected to get back by 8:30 but boys can show up much later or not at all. These inequitable curfews are justified by the authorities as cautionary devices, implying that locking up women would mean that they are secure. However, this aspect of safeguarding women by caging them within bolted doors could be seen otherwise.

 

It is important to note that the discriminatory curfews violate regulations set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC), that coordinates and maintains the standards of collegiate education and occupies the position of law, notified by a state gazette. The regulations put forward by the UGC speak of safety as being no excuse for restricting the mobility of female students. The University of Delhi has given recognition and circulated notices to colleges for the election of an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC following protests related to the suicide of a female Dalit student of the School of Open Learning(SOL) in 2016. However, this notice has only been partially admitted and no actions have been made to expel the restricted mobility of female students. The students have in no way asked for this restriction to be imposed on men alike; however, this prejudiced curfew has been acknowledged and neutralised by locking up the men as well.
The issue of biased curfews can be interpreted in various ways. The heads might rationalise it as a way of protecting women. When questioned, they often reply with “they signed up for it, so why complain?” or “the parents want it that way,”  blatantly representing the ingrained patriarchal notions among people and the casual acceptance of overt sexism in public spheres. It may also be seen as a more passive-aggressive form of victim shaming that out rightly suggests that whatever comes upon a woman is due to her own risque nature so it’s best to lock her up. Women have been suffering from dysphoria and disapproval for the sole reason that they are gendered as females. Gender discrimination has stunted their potential.

 

The perception of women by society as archetypal temptresses is seen as a threat to the patriarchal order. Therefore, an effort is made to control the female sexuality by caging them behind locked doors.

 

The battle against this prejudice remains as various groups fight for it.  As our fight for equality persists, it is important to realise that we are entitled to our freedom no matter whom we offend with it. Our oppression cannot be trivialised and the acceptance of the possessive and controlling behavior of our detainers cannot be normalised.

 

 

Feature Image Credits: The Wire

 

 

Trishala Dutta

[email protected]

WhatsApp constantly buzzing with promotional messages, attractive posters adorning all corners of college walls, seniors giving their first-hand experience of being a part of xyz society; this is the auditions season. The most integral part of a DU students’ life, college societies bridge the gap between academics and fun. You get exposure and learn how to apply theoretical concepts in real life, while creating everlasting bonds and memories with fellow society members.

Consequently, it is a prudent decision to apply only for the societies you want to associate yourself with. Following are a few tips that might help you crack an interview of the society of your choice:

  1. Be Confident. This adage needs to be reiterated several times as it is extremely important. Your confidence level indicates your preparedness to take up new tasks and creates a positive first impression on the interviewers. Along with content, you are judged on the basis of the clarity of your thoughts and the way you present yourself. At the same time, nervous anticipation is healthy and definitively an indicator of your seriousness towards the society. When nervousness takes over confidence, it spells misfortune.
  2. Objectivity and honesty-the key words. A self-appraisal is necessary, but not if it’s irrelevant to your position. It’s painfully obvious when a student beats about the bush or exaggerates a small achievement. Similarly, white lies and gross irregularities between what you say and what you wrote in the application form can land you in trouble.It’s best to stick to the question and answer it short and crisp.
  3. Do your Research. Be it an interview for the entrepreneurship cell, Enactus, photography society, or the quiz society, you need to research thoroughly. Researching gives you an overview of the society’s past projects and achievements and ensures that you appear as an interested and serious candidate. It gives you an edge over other prospective members and lets you know if the society is active and worth your time.
  4. Break away from the clichés. Everyone swears by the rehearsed introduction and prepares for questions beforehand. It’s alright if the preparation entails a rundown of what you will be saying, but not rehearsing set answers. Since the interviewers are students too, they look forward to students who break the monotonous nature of the interview process. If you have something fresh to say, like a question or a reasonable suggestion, you will at least be remembered among the sea of potential members.
  5. Apply only if you are genuinely interested.A lot of societies now take in students regardless of the student’s experience in it, provided they show commendable enthusiasm to learn and contribute in the process. If you intend to join a society just to add value to your CV, it will be a fruitless effort. Apply only if you are passionate or genuinely interested and feel that your constructive energies will be better utilised.

 

 

 

Feature Image Credits: dukesmedicalapplications.com

 

Vijeata Balani

[email protected]

 

 

The new Shahrukh Khan and Anushka Sharma starrer seems to fall flat, despite boasting of Imitiaz Ali’s directing skills.

The audience is introduced to Harry as a tour guide in Amsterdam who drowns his loneliness in alcohol and casual sex. The character’s loneliness is depicted from different angles, with Khan traversing in a bus, drinking alone in a pub, and looking at a reflection of his self in the mirror with a song playing in the background. Enter Sejal (Anushka Sharma) outside an airport, forcing Harry to help find her lost engagement ring, which he is reluctant to do.

Ultimately he gives in, but later confesses to being a womaniser. It is quite clear that Harry is the one in control of everything from the start, and Sejal is just trying to enjoy her new-found freedom (being from a conservative Gujarati family and travelling Europe with a guy) by running into random, shady pubs And yet, she also emphasised that she is not one of ‘those’ women who leave their fiancés and run away with a ‘tour guide’. One thus begins to question Sejal’s statements when she tries to seduce Harry by pretending to run into him at a bar, with the sequence ending awkwardly in the two waking up next to each other next morning, when they start pouring their heart out about singing and the Radha song comes on.

The two characters are shown frolicking around Europe for a ring which quite easily could have been remade, given Sejal’s family business of diamonds and the amount she is paying Harry on a daily basis. That ring is ultimately found in Sejal’s. Moreover, Khan’s age is explicitly evident and the age gap between the lovers quite prominent. There isn’t a concrete story line as would be expected from Imitaz Ali. All one sees is the panoramic views of Prague, Budapest and Amsterdam in the background with flashbacks of Punjab in black and white, none of which render the audience with Harry’s past. Seeking a man’s validation on a woman’s body is a theme regressive and difficult to digest, coming from these actors. And Harry’s sudden ramblings in Punjabi in front of the tourists is just outright rude.

“Jab Harry met Sejal is the weakest film of Imitaz Ali,” as Anupama Chopra said, and indeed it demeans the filmmaker’s calibre and imagination (if any of it is left). The film is all sugar-coated and far from reality. It gets boring at certain intervals and one waits for this ordeal to be over. If you haven’t watched this film, giving it a miss won’t do any harm unless all you plan to watch are some European cities.

 

Prachi Mehra

[email protected]

Image credits: Saavn